Geographies: Dubai

Startup Weekend Dubai FashTech 2016 kicks off this year with a lot of exciting updates. We will be hosting the weekend from October 13-15, 2016. We are looking forward to having our top experts, designers and developers guide the participants this year to create the best MVP’s of their wearables, design and technology products. Keep reading till the end, we have a little surprise prepared for you if you are interested in being the next big idea in wearables!

Here are our TOP 12:

Education: Startup Weekends are all about learning by doing, whether you’re learning a new skill or a new way of thinking. Don’t just listen to theory, build your own strategy and test it as you go.

Co-Founder Dating: The people who come to Startup Weekend are serious about learning how to build and launch startups. Create relationships that last long past the weekend.

Have fun: During the weekend working alongside awesome people who share your ideas. Startup Weekend is meant to be fun and entertaining so enjoy it.

Solve local problems with your ideas. Do you think that one of your idea can change your town or have a positive impact in your group of people? Bring your idea notebook with you and start making a positive change in your local community.

Learn New Skills: With a whole weekend dedicated to letting your creative juices flow, Startup Weekends are perfect opportunities to work on a new platform, learn a new programming language, or give marketing a try. With nothing to lose there’s no reason not to step outside your comfort zone.

Learn How to Launch a Business (and Actually Do It!): Startup Weekend is the epitome of Lean Startup Methodology.

Mentorship: Local tech and startup leaders participate in Startup Weekends and give feedback to participants. Interact with the movers and shakers in your community.

Get Access to Valuable Startup Resources: By participating in Startup Weekend you are given instant access to great products and tools. No one leaves Startup Weekend empty handed! Click here to learn more about some of the offers our Global Sponsors provide during the event.

Save Money: Startup Weekends are affordable (typically $99, only $50 for students). Your ticket includes seven meals, snacks, and all the coffee you can drink.

Wearables: It’s about bringing style, utility and the Internet of things (IoT) to the masses and its arguably the hottest market at the moment blending in 3D printing with web APIs, exciting mobile apps and sexy web portals incorporating the best in social media interactivity.

Prizes: Winners get the chance to go to NEW YORK CITY ALL EXPENSES COVERED! We will be flying in the lucky winners of the competition to present their ideas to a panel of experts that will help them take their ideas to the NEXT LEVEL!

Interested in joining or have any questions, check out our website. Reach out to us by sending us an email to: dubai@startupweekend.org.

In the lead up to Startup Weekend Dubai, we hosted a panel discussion titled, “Bootcamp: No More Reasons Not to Start”. The aim of the bootcamp was to give viewers a holistic picture of the existing startup environment in Dubai. The panellists, moderator and speaker each have a unique background and role to play in Dubai’s startup world and together, represented all aspects of Dubai’s startup framework.

Firstly, the bootcamp featured personal experiences by entrepreneurs who are operating in the fields of food & beverage, technology, and consumer products. It also included panellists who are working in organisations that provide support to entrepreneurs through mentorship, networking opportunities, financial investment and other forms of guidance. Finally, the panellists shared their insight on the legal considerations and challenges that one will face during their entrepreneurial journey. Most importantly, various stages of setting up and running a startup were discussed: from pre-incorporation and business planning to how to keep up with the growing complexity and scale of your business.

The discussion kicked off with the topical question: as an entrepreneur, should you retain your day job and work on your venture on the side or should you fully commit, assume the risk and quit your job? Whilst the panellists each had different opinions and experiences with this question, it was agreed that this completely depended on the particular entrepreneur’s circumstances, risk appetite, and stage of development of the idea.

A key talking point was the type of support that an individual entrepreneur should seek. Should you be guided by an incubator? What type of legal advice do you need and when should you obtain it? Would it be helpful to enter into a startup competition?

In answering these questions, the panellists acknowledged that these forms of support are different. However, each of them provides an entrepreneur with access to specialist information and advice, and networking opportunities. The panellists universally pointed out that there are intrinsic obstacles to overcome when starting a company, especially at the early stages. They shared their practical stories and how having a supporting network would have prevented early mistakes or speeded up the route to profitability. The conclusion amongst the panellists was that the righttiming is key and advice should be obtained early on, meeting the right people never hurts, and it is best to have the rightfoundation for your company from the start.

A large chunk of the discussion was dedicated to an area that is relevant to all but unfamiliar to many: legal matters. It is important to remember that Dubai has a unique legal composition, which entrepreneurs should understand well in order to inform their strategy. Chad Fox gave a crash course about the registration and licensing process, the choice of jurisdiction of incorporation (onshore or free-zone), and overarching restrictions (costs associated with specific structures, employee visas, division of shares and allocation of managerial positions).

Overall, the discussion was designed to familiarise potential and current entrepreneurs with their upcoming challenges. However, it also pointed them to the tools and resources that they should resort to in order to respond to such scenarios.

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” –Nolan Bushnell, Entrepreneur

So for all you doers, we are running Startup Weekend again this year. After its great success last year with more than 90 participants that decided to do something about their idea. How? These doers got in to teams and built their ideas, 18 teams with 18 amazing and passionate pitches at the end of the week. All these great ideas, all that passion and great work was covered by Sky News Arabia.

And for those of you who don’t know what Startup Weekend is, Startup Weekend is a 54 hour startup event that provides the networking, resources, and incentives for individuals and teams to go from idea to launch. Startup Weekend’s motto: No Talk. All Action. We are a community of passionate entrepreneurs on a mission to help other entrepreneurs and facilitate innovation.

The event is open to anyone interested in the local entrepreneurial community, and it puts them in a setting where anything is possible. In the past 3 years, 550+ startups have started, 22,000+ entrepreneurs have been inspired. Teams have even started to generate revenue during the 54hr event, and others have even gone on to direct angel and VC investment. None of these stats take into account the amazing networking, ongoing professional relationships, and amazing experience that happen at every event.

To know more about Startup Weekend in Dubai and around the world, visit: http://startupweekend.org/about/ Or like our facebook page and be up to date with everything that’s going on with Startup Weekend in DUBAI: https://www.facebook.com/StartupWeekendDubai